Wall Street ended last week higher on favorable inflation, economic, and corporate earnings data. Investors now must await the Federal Reserve’s meeting this week to see whether the Fed will soften its policy of aggressive interest-rate hikes. Fourth-quarter corporate earnings season is wide open with roughly 68% of the companies comprising the S&P 500 reporting […]
Read MoreMonth: January 2023
Weekly Update as of market close January 20, 2023
Last week saw stocks slide lower, despite a rally last Friday. Only the tech-heavy Nasdaq was able to post a gain among the benchmark indexes listed here. Throughout the week, investors had to balance data that showed inflation was waning with the impact rising interest rates may have on the economy. Several Federal Reserve officials […]
Read MoreIRS Releases Standard Mileage Rates for 2023
Due to recent increases in the price of fuel, the IRS has increased the optional standard mileage rates for computing the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business purposes for 2023. However, the standard mileage rates for medical and moving expense purposes remain the same for 2023. The standard mileage rate for computing the […]
Read MoreWeekly Update as of market close January 13, 2023
Stocks advanced for the second week in a row to kick off 2023. Investors were encouraged by inflation data that showed prices slid lower in December. The interest-rate-sensitive Nasdaq posted gains for six consecutive sessions, its longest streak since 2021, while the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 enjoyed their biggest weekly gains in nearly two […]
Read MoreIs the Yield Curve Signaling a Recession?
Long-term bonds generally provide higher yields than short-term bonds, because investors demand higher returns to compensate for the risk of lending money over a longer period. Occasionally, however, this relationship flips, and investors are willing to accept lower yields in return for the relative safety of longer-term bonds. This is called a yield curve inversion, because a […]
Read MoreWeekly Update as of market close January 6, 2023
Last Friday’s rally helped drive stocks higher to end the first full week of January. Investors apparently saw a deceleration in November and December average hourly earnings (see jobs report below) as a sign that the aggressive monetary policy followed by the Federal Reserve may actually be slowing inflation. Traders will await this week’s consumer […]
Read MoreRetirement Investors Get Another Boost from Washington
Amid the 1,650-page, $1.7 trillion omnibus spending legislation passed by Congress last week and expected to be signed by President Biden were several provisions affecting work-sponsored retirement plans and, to a lesser degree, IRAs. Dubbed the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 after the similarly sweeping Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act passed in […]
Read MoreWeekly Update as of market close December 30, 2022
A late-week surge in dip buying wasn’t enough to save stocks from closing the last week of 2022 in the red. Only the Russell 2000 and the Global Dow managed to eke out minimal gains. The Nasdaq, S&P 500, and the Dow all ended the week lower. Treasury yields rose, as bond prices fell. The […]
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